Air Pollution Blamed for 1 in 8 Deaths

Air pollution killed 7 million people in 2012, more people than AIDS, diabetes and road injuries combined.

One in eight deaths worldwide can be attributed to breathing tainted air, making it the world’s largest environmental health risk, the Geneva-based World Health Organization said in a report today, doubling its previous estimates for pollution fatalities. The biggest culprit is poor ventilation of indoor heaters and cookers, the agency said.

The WHO revised the number because the deadly effect of air contaminants, which extends beyond respiratory problems to heart attacks, strokes and cancer, are now better understood. Low- and middle-income nations in Asia accounted for more than 70 percent of deaths related to air contamination in 2012, the report shows.

“Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution,” Maria Neira, director of the WHO’s department for public health, environmental and social determinants of health, said in a statement. “The evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe.”

Indoor Smoke

Indoor smoke killed about 4.3 million people and outdoor air pollution killed about 3.7 million in 2012, the WHO said. There’s some overlap between deaths from indoor and outdoor factors, the agency said. The WHO previously estimated 2 million deaths in 2004 from indoor pollution and 1.3 million in 2008 from outdoor air contamination.

“Poor women and children pay a heavy price from indoor air pollution since they spend more time at home breathing in smoke and soot from leaky coal and wood cook stoves,” Flavia Bustreo, the WHO’s assistant director-general for family, women and children’s health, said in the statement.

The new estimates show a stronger link between air pollution and cardiovascular disease such as stroke and heart ailments, in addition to the known connection with respiratory disease, according to the report.

Outdoor air pollution can cause lung cancer and increase the risk of bladder cancer, a World Health Organization agency said in October, ranking it as a carcinogen for the first time.

Air pollution killed 7 million people in 2012, more people than AIDS, diabetes and road injuries combined.
One in eight deaths worldwide can be attributed to breathing tainted air, making it the world's largest environmental health risk, the Geneva-based World Health...

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